As we stood in front of these, men, who truly did not deserve the title of being knights, I saw Alianor glance sideways at me both of us stunned for a moment, not knowing how exactly we should respond to such a statement. From the look on Alianor's face, I could tell that she was focusing hard, that she was most likely using her powers to reach into the corners of the blonde prince that stood before us. I noticed the subtle changes on Alianor's face, changes of which no normal person would have been able to noticed. Though I am not a normal person, and I had known Alianor for a very long time, so I took notice of the fact that her face changed to a look of outrage, of pure anger, and I have no clue of why, until I heard Alianor's voice in my head. They're after the Stag as well. After Alianor told me this I could feel my face, unnoticeable to a normal person, contour into anger and shock. How dare these people, royalty or not, believe that they could simply capture the Stag, with mere hunting weapons. Just the fact that these men believed that they could capture a creature as magnificent as the Stag as if it were a mere animal showed the complete and utter disrespect that they had toward magic. These men didn't understand the spirit of magic as a current of life that must be fully embraced in the soul, mind, and body, didn't respect the forces of old as Alianor and I did. The simple fact that these fools knew nothing of the magic, thus they would never be able to find the Stag, even if they did it would easily escape their hunt. These woods have power that make it able to conceal all that outsiders did not and could not understand, it could use its powers to protect what human hands would taint and destroy until its magic would become poison to any and all who feel magic coursing as their lifeblood, all those whose souls have joined together with magic. I could tell that Alianor was more upset than myself by the fact that they were trying to capture the Stag, it almost worried me that she would purposely upset them into fighting us, so I decided that I should step forward and speak first. Coming to this decision I stepped forward and lowered my daggers, though I did not put them away for fear I would need them, and looked directly at the blonde prince, who look slightly bewildered at Alianor and I appearance, telling him,
"You have no reason to question us. Or threaten us. We are here freely, and if you attempt to harm us we will strike back."
Arthur's gaze turned towards me, sharp as a sword, at my statement. His lip also curled in irritation at what I assume he considered our insubordination. He clearly was not use to men, or anyone for that matter, challenging his word. Arthur raised his sword, which gleamed in the fading moonlight, shadows clinging to his body, and his chain mail. Arthur spoke, his voice tight as he attempted to hide his annoyance,
"That isn't an answer boy. We have identified ourselves as soldiers of Camelot, with the authority invested in us from Camelot. You have yet to inform me why we should or shouldn't view you as a danger." Alianor moved forward to meet his challenge with her own response,
"You can hardly except us to concern ourselves with your state of mind. You will believe of us what you will. And we are beyond the boundaries of Camelot therefore your authority is irrelevant. In these woods you have no ability to dictate our actions." Arthur stiffened in fury from Alianor's response, his angry gaze burrowed into Alianor's skin, his blue eyes looking to burn into her skin. I noticed the way that Alianor was looking at Arthur, a look that meant that she was looking into the boys mind, seeing who he really was as a person. . In response to the use of her powers, the flames glowing within her soul grew in potency, blazing with light that traveled from within to make her blade glow much brighter. I saw her scowl at the fact that she was starting to glow, if she were to expend any more power, then her eyes would transform from her brilliant blue to a bright silver flecked with crimson, the silver is a symbol of her abilities in the mind, and the crimson indicates her affinity for the fire element.
Both Alianor and mine own thoughts were broken instantly. Arthur's hand had reached for the hilt of his sword, as he simultaneously leaping forward toward us, his sword hovering above Alianor's throat. My own anger rose, as I noticed Alianor's anger rising as well, I was so angry with myself for not noticing the movement and stopping him before he got that close to us. I calmed myself down enough to assess the situation, and I noticed that the two blondes eyes met, clashing with each other's anger. After assessing the situation I decided that I needed to say something, to give Alianor the distraction she would need to get away from the blade, I spoke, with the fury I still felt layering my voice,
"You have sought a battle, and we will give it to you." Arthur scoffed dismissively; he did not look over at me, and his eyes never even left Alianor's face,
"We have nine men, you have two. Don't be foolish." Alianor used the distraction I gave her to twist her sword in her hand until the hilt was facing outward, and then drove the hilt deep into Arthur's stomach. Arthur had forgotten to disarm Alianor, and now he dropped the sword from her throat and bent over his stomach, face contorted in both surprise and pain. Alianor used Arthur's distraction yet again, and she swiftly brought her knee up and smashed it into Arthur's lower face. Before he fell over, I could hear the crunch of cartilage from the impact of Alianor's strong blow. The knights all rushed forward as soon as they saw their prince had been attacked, three of the knights rushed directly over to me, I assume they thought I would be a quick opponent since I lacked the full muscles an actual man would have. I whirled around, as if I was performing a well-rehearsed dance, and my blades glowed from the fading moonlight as I blocked every attack the knights sent my way. I made sure that my back wasn't face one knight for to long, that none of the knights had an opening to hit me. I briefly registered that Alianor was also fighting a knight, as I surprised one knight by catching his sword between by daggers blade, and swiftly moving them disarming the man, then sliding between his leg and hitting his pressure point successfully knocking him out. I then moved around another one of the men hitting the pressure points in his arm, making him unable to lift his sword against me, turning around throwing the third man away from me before knocking out the man who could no longer lift his sword. Alianor and I always strived not to take life unless it was absolutely necessary. There were only four knights remaining now, and they all surrounded us, wary since they had now seen how skilled we are in battle. I saw Alianor pause for a second, bringing the thought that there should be one more man here, but I quickly dismissed the thought, I could ask Alianor about the ninth man after we took care of the last four knights. I saw Alianor quickly knock out one man with the hilt of her sword from the corner of my eye, as I quickly caught the man sword and took it out of his grasp and knocked him out with the hilt of my dagger, similarly to the way I had with the other knight earlier. The last two knights came toward us, believing that they stood a better chance against us than their other knights had. Alianor fought against one knight as I fought against the other remaining knight, and I heard the ringing of the clashing iron from the blades. I danced around the knight, avoiding his blade not letting it hit me, I caught his blade between my daggers like I had with the other two men, though this man knew I would try to swipe the blade away from him, so he twisted his own blade which managed to make one of my daggers fly out of my hand and into a tree near me. Realizing that would have to injure this man to win this fight, I ducked under his sword as he swung it toward me, believing that he now had the advantage since I only had one of my two daggers, and stabbed my dagger into his shoulder, weakening the hold he had on his sword. I then hit the pressure point near his wrist, making him drop the sword all together, I then hit him in the chest pushing him back into a tree, which ended up making him fall to the ground and to black out.
I turned and realized that Alianor had also finished fighting the other knight, for a moment we both surveyed what we had done. Eight men of Camelot lay sprawled over the moss and rotten leaves that coated the forest floor, the last rays of moonlight dancing over their comatose faces.